Jiang Chaoshen said: “Dear audience, now on the ice is our national figure skating star, Zhang Jue. This year, his short program is called ‘You Bring Me New Life.’ It’s a piece written and composed by Zhang Jue himself and performed by the Zhuque band.”

Zhao Ning added: “Yes, Zhang Jue is a very talented all-rounder. In recent years, he has been choreographing more and more programs by himself, including the world-record-breaking ‘Tree of Life’ and ‘Lovely Bones.’ He has also choreographed for other athletes, such as Min Shan’s ‘Catherine the Great’ this year and the ‘Dance of the Skeletons’ for the ice dance duo Sai Peng and Sai Chong.”

With this introduction, many skating fans realized that Zhang Jue had produced quite a few outstanding works. While not all of them were classics, they were certainly memorable.

Chen Sijia’s roommate exclaimed with her mouth wide open: “Really? He can even write songs?”

Chen Sijia smiled softly and explained in a low voice: “He has a strong musical background. Ever since elementary school, he has been taking lessons from a very talented teacher. He can project his voice loud enough that everyone in a hall of a thousand people can hear him without a microphone.”

Although being good at vocals and composing songs seemed like two different things, neither Chen Sijia nor her roommate were experts in this field. Since Zhang Jue had already proven his talent, as fans, praising him was the right thing to do.

After all, Zhang Jue wasn’t chasing fame. He didn’t sell the songs he wrote as albums, he used them for his skating routines. As a result, when the season began, fans who wanted to listen to the song had to search for it themselves, leaving countless Zhang Jue fans crying out: “Brother, please take our money and sell us the album!”

For someone who could donate his entire year’s income without hesitation, critics had nothing to attack, and fans could only accept it with a sigh.

Zhang Jue made a gesture with his right hand like a gun and pointed at his heart, and then the moment the music started, he began speeding across the ice, or rather, speeding with himself.

It was showtime!

As the fastest male skater in the world currently, Zhang Jue possessed an acceleration ability on ice that 99% of his competitors could not match.

As Hayato Teraoka once commented, Zhang Jue’s skating was not only technically excellent but also had a powerful emotional impact. He could easily turn a beautifully choreographed sequence into an exhilarating performance.

When Coach Lu first saw this choreography, he twitched his mouth and said: “This kid just reached top-level skating, and now he can’t wait to show off.”

However, the public had always described Zhang Jue as someone who could jump, was flexible, and excelled at performing. His skating had typically been summed up as “natural talent” and “speed,” but in this short program, Zhang Jue opened with a high-energy skating sequence that completely changed many people’s perception that skating wasn’t his strength.

The complexity of his edge changes was dazzling!

Hayato Teraoka, seeing Zhang Jue’s skating speed, clicked his tongue: “Tsk, I could skate that fast too.”

Keiko doused him with cold water: “But you wouldn’t dare. If you tried to maintain that speed the whole time, you’d run out of stamina.”

Only someone like Zhang Jue, with his incredible stamina, could pull this off.

Some people even showed their jealousy: “He changes edges so fast, isn’t he afraid his legs will get tangled?”

Even though he had long legs, Zhang Jue wasn’t worried about tripping. On the contrary, he immediately executed a quadruple loop (4Lo) jump without any preparation or step-in assistance.

The entire arena erupted in gasps of awe, followed by a round of applause.

As they say, professionals recognize the skill. Those who attend competitions understand the basics of figure skating: the shorter the preparation before a jump, the greater the challenge for the athlete. Zhang Jue’s ability to pull off a quad without a step-in showed his complete mastery of the jump—a skill only the best of the best could possess.

When athletes push the difficulty, and the performance is outstanding, it’s the best reward for fans. Many who had bought tickets to see Zhang Jue felt that the jump alone had made their purchase worthwhile, but the show wasn’t over yet. After a series of footwork, Zhang Jue completed a 4S-3T combination.

Jiang Chaoshen calmly reported Zhang Jue’s technical moves: “Entry into a camel spin, layback position, doughnut spin… beautiful. This is a spin with excellent speed and center.”

Zhao Ning added: “Zhang Jue has shown tremendous progress this season in both spinning and skating.”

In the past, critics used to point out that Zhang Jue’s basic skills were weak due to his four-year hiatus from skating during childhood, and his skating and spins had flaws. But this year, those voices completely disappeared.

No one could question his fundamentals after watching ‘You Bring Me New Life.’

This program wasn’t just a performance aimed at impressing his skating idol Peja, it was also solid proof of the foundation laid by Coach Lu.

At that moment, the lyrics of the song echoed: “My soul stirs restlessly, ready to crawl out of my body to kiss you.” Many fans, who had some understanding of English, felt sweetness in their hearts, matching the athlete’s performance on the ice.

At this point, Zhang Jue completed his final jump, entering into a 3A with an inside edge entry.

After landing the jump, without even catching his breath, he immediately transitioned into a dazzling series of sit spins.

First a sit spin with the leg held, then a twist variation, followed by small jumps, side sit spins… each position changed after four revolutions, and the spin speed was so fast that it could make one’s head spin. His upper body moved with the rhythm of the music during the spin.

To execute sit spins at this level, the judges had no choice but to award a Level 4. One of the judges, known for fair scoring, gave this series of spins a GOE of +3. After averaging the other judges’ scores, Zhang Jue ended up with a GOE of +2.5 for this spin, showing that many judges wanted to give him high marks.

At 19, Zhang Jue was in the prime of his figure skating career. When he underwent a physical exam before the Grand Prix Final, the team doctor even remarked that he was “the second healthiest on the team, only behind Cha Hanbuhua,” and in better condition than his teammate Min Shan. This reflected on the ice, where Zhang Jue’s form was at its peak.

The high scores of the previous athletes did not put any pressure on him, because he knew he had the ability to surpass everyone and claim the throne!

When the footwork sequence began, the program entered its climax. The intricate choreography of the footwork unfolded under his skates, looking as if it was running at 1.5 times the speed.

Carlson watched in disbelief: “Is he skating like a madman?”

No, to be precise, Zhang Jue was fully unleashing his state, and when an athlete performs at this level, it’s almost guaranteed to be a personal best.

Ilya watched enviously. In figure skating, if an athlete frequently relies on two-footed skating during footwork, it suggests laziness in the choreography. But if someone can maintain prolonged one-footed skating with high quality, it signals the rise of a skating master.

For the first time, Zhang Jue incorporated so much one-footed skating in his footwork, but he executed it beautifully. Despite the rapid pace of the sequence, every edge change was precise and clear, worthy of being used as a textbook example.

It was hard to believe that just a few years ago, this athlete was criticized for not using deep enough edges and being known only for his speed. Watching his footwork performance today, it was clear that he hadn’t reached this level by relying solely on talent. Every drop of blood and sweat shed in training had been transformed into today’s glory!

In the final seconds of the program, the male voice in the background sang: “You bring me new life,” and Zhang Jue drew a large heart with both his index fingers, his rosy lips forming the words: “I love you.”

With the sound of a drum, the entire audience stood up and applauded, the massive wave of clapping filled the arena, mixed with quite a few screams. Small crocodile toys and Piglet Warrior plushies fell onto the ice like rain.

Coach Lu, Shen Liu, and Zhang Junbao shook hands and high-fived, while Yang Zhiyuan gave a thumbs-up to the older coach.

“Zhang Jue could put on ice dance shoes right now and compete with top ice dancers in terms of skating. You, Coach, are truly amazing!”

Coach Lu rarely showed a smile, but now his face was full of pride.

Zhang Jue bowed and waved for a while, then picked up a Piglet Warrior hat from the ice and put it on his head. Hugging a crocodile toy larger than himself, he left the ice, still riding high on excitement. He was breathing lightly, his body still radiating heat and sweat from the intense performance.

The young man cheerfully called out: “Coach, did I skate well?”

Shen Liu grinned widely and gave Zhang Jue’s shoulder a firm pat: “Good, you were the best. Now go put on your coat.”

Zhang Jue slipped on his jacket and walked over to the kiss & cry area, where he waited for the scores with the three coaches.

Jiang Chaosheng, who had just seen his star athlete deliver the most dazzling program of the evening, was in high spirits as well. With a confident tone, he said: “A fantastic short program, Zhang Jue was in excellent form today. The current world record for the short program is held by Zhang Jue with 115.9 points, set last season with ‘The Lovely Bones.’ Let’s see what score he gets this time.”

His words all but hinted that Zhang Jue was about to break another record. Right after he spoke, the scores appeared on the big screen.

Technical score: 67.03

Presentation score: 49

Short program total score: 116.03 (WR)

The CCTV crew was in tune with the moment, and when the score appeared, they added a “15” special effect next to the WR, signifying that this was Zhang Jue’s 15th world record-breaking performance. The backstage team quickly gave him their thumbs-up in admiration.

Zhao Ning, in an excited voice, announced: “116.03 points! This is Zhang Jue’s 15th time breaking the world record, and the previous record was also his. Now, in the top 10 highest short program scores in figure skating history, Zhang Jue holds the top five spots!”

No wonder he’s called the king of the short program! And everyone could clearly see that Zhang Jue hadn’t even used his maximum difficulty configuration in this performance, which could have included the 4Lz, 4Lo3T, and 3A. Only one of the 3As was placed in the latter half of the program, which for someone like Zhang Jue, with his incredible stamina, meant he still had room to push the record even higher.

He hadn’t even reached his ceiling yet!

Zhang Jue stood up, waved with a regal air, then turned and bowed deeply to Coach Lu, raising both hands in a gesture of worship.

Because of his actions, the 75-year-old coach became the center of attention for the entire arena. The old man couldn’t hide his emotion and hugged the young skater.

“Good boy, do you remember? When you were seven years old, I told you that if you skated well, you would be at the top of this sport one day. I knew I wasn’t wrong.”

As he spoke, the old man took off his reading glasses and wiped the corners of his eyes.

He knew it. He was never wrong.

 

…

 

Actually, since the men’s singles entered the era of quadruple jumps, many skaters who relied only on their natural jumping talent without focusing on basic training or self-care experienced severe declines in their abilities after the golden age of 18, 19, or 20. Their jump consistency would gradually collapse. To change this, either their performance skills had to be strong enough to compensate for the drop in technical scores, or they had to lay a solid foundation early on, with a strong mental game, allowing them to continue past the age of 23. This was the significance of Coach Lu — he helped his athletes build a solid foundation, which extended their professional careers.

Even though Zhang Jue had high natural talent, if he had only relied on that, he wouldn’t have made it this far.

 

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